Hermann Hesse's "Siddhartha"

I love allegories and symbols and there are plenty of them to be found in Hesses' books. Of the ones I read by this author, Siddhartha is my favourite.

The beginning of Hesse's story is similar to the legend of Buddha, but without any suggestion that  Siddhartha is of godly descent or even royal. He is a brahman's son, growing up in a comfortable home, taught by learned brahmans. He is a very gifted pupil, but the truth he is seeking is not to be found in the teachings of the brahmans. So Siddhartha decides to leave his father's house and become an itinerant ascetic. He spends the next few years learning concentration and meditation, practising self-denial, learning to conquer pain, hunger, thirst and fatigue - all in an effort to transcend his ego and discover the innermost part of his being, that reflection of the divine, the ultimate reality.

These many years of asceticism have not brought Siddhartha any closer to the the truth he seeks. (This is the point where the story departs from the legend altogether and Hesse's originality begins to shine). As Siddhartha realises asceticism is not the path, he hears rumours about Gautama the Sublime, the Buddha. He leaves the ascetics and goes to meet the Buddha and hear his teachings.

Seeing and listening to the Buddha convinces Siddhartha that “this man was filled with truth down to the least movement of his smallest finger”. Yet Siddhartha resolves that he will not become Buddha's disciple. Having met the wisest teacher, having heard the best possible doctrine, he realises wisdom cannot be taught. The only way to find wisdom is through his own experience, following his own path. A path which he begins to shape as he understands that his past attempts to destroy his self through asceticism and self-mortification were a futile effort, a self-deceit. Instead, from that day on, he would seek to know himself. "No longer shall I mortify and dismember myself in order to find a mystery behind the ruins." Equally, he will stop treating reality as an illusion, "the veil of Maya". The essence is not separate from the world around us, hidden behind things, but manifest in every thing.

His new path takes him further and further away from yoga and any form of self-discipline. He even seems to have forgotten his spiritual journey. As the brahman and the yogi fade away, so does the arrogance that shadowed these identities. As Siddhartha's weaknesses become apparent, so does his humanity - that which he has in common with all other human beings. The wisdom that has eluded the gifted pupil of both the brahmans and the ascetics, finally begins to dawn on him. Very slowly, his years of youth behind him, Siddhartha eventually becomes a sage - someone who has found contentment, who is at peace with the world and with himself.